If you are looking IT documentation tools for your IT department, IT business, MSP, or computer repair shop then we’ve put together this in-depth review just for you.
Good IT documentation is the backbone of every IT department and IT business. Whether it’s for troubleshooting, customer service, account management, or to help onboard a new employee, proper documentation can save time and money.
Unfortunately, many IT departments and businesses don’t maintain their documentation properly which can be frustrating to say the least. To help you out we’ve compiled a list of our favorite IT documentation tools to help you manage your documentations more efficiently than ever before.
Atlassian Confluence
Atlassian offers a comprehensive set of tools for every department in your company including development, marketing, finance and beyond. Their flagship product is Confluence which is one of the best IT documentation programs on the market today.
Features to be aware of:
- Password Protected Pages
- Micro-blogging Functionality
- Advanced Wiki Syntax
- Drag and drop editing makes editing pages easy even for non technical users
- With live preview mode, you’ll always know exactly how your content will look before publishing it which saves hours in development time
- Assign user permissions so only certain employees can access specific documents
- Staging areas allow you to preview your content before it is published
- Use Markdown to format text so it’s easy for both technical and non-technical users to read
Things to consider:
Admins must have full access to edit pages or you will not be able to install the plugin. This can lead to frustration down the line if an admin decides they do not want another person editing pages. If someone wants to change their password later there may be issues with user permissions that can get messy fast if users are constantly logging in and out of the program.
Pros:
- Supporting files, knowledge base articles or even just text can all be easily included into pages
- Pages can be broken up into smaller pieces called spaces making it easier to find information when needed
- Pages are password protected so only those who have permissions will be able to access them
Cons:
- Users may need full admin privileges in order to install the plugin which may not always work depending on how you set up your company security structures
- If an admin decides they don’t want another user to have access that person may not be able to update pages without being given proper permissions
- Pages need to be broken up into individual spaces which can take a long time depending on the size of your documentation
Price:
Confluence has a limited free plan for up to 10 users. For larger organizations or those who need more features, Atlassian offers a variety of pricing plans starting at $6.50 per user per month.
IT Glue
IT Glue is a great tool for those looking to build their documentation site from the ground up. It offers several different types of pages and can even help you create documentation sites for customers, employees, partners and vendors as well as your own company’s internal use. I have personally used IT Glue and can vouch for it being a great product.
Features to be aware of:
- Pages can include an unlimited amount of resources in addition to text
- Resources are files which you upload with your documentation
- To make things easier for your team, resources can be assigned to specific employees who have permissions to edit or delete them
- Ability to sort pages into folders based on priority or type
- Customizable as well as searchable
- Unlimited number of pages and resources
The primary difference between IT Glue and Atlassian’s Confluence is that IT Glue allows for unlimited resources, making it the ideal solution for larger companies with large amounts of data to be organized. This can also make things more difficult to find within IT Glue since everything will be in one location without any sort of filtering. If you are used to Atlassian’s platform however, this may not be an issue.
Things to consider:
If you are looking for a documentation tool that includes other types of software besides your documentation management needs then this may not be the best product. You will need another solution if you want to manage your billing, contracts, software development and more from one platform.
Price:
IT Glue starts at $29 a user per month.
ITBoost
IT Boost is a leading documentation software designed specifically for IT departments and IT service providers. All of your IT documentation needs can be resolved in one place with the most easy to use and flexible tools available today.
Features to be aware of:
- Customer Portal – If you provide IT services to other companies, a custom page for each customer is created when an account is first set up on, This page includes contact information specific to that customer along with quick links to common tasks such as creating support tickets or submitting change requests.
- Change Management – Change management is a critical part of every business, especially in the IT department where changes can affect multiple servers and services throughout your entire organization. Enhancements include automatic email notifications when requested changes are made, approval steps before changes are actually implemented, and detailed logs of changes made in the system.
- Knowledge Base – Knowledge base functionality allows users to submit support questions or comments where they can be routed to the proper department or person for resolution. Your team will also have the ability to comment on these requests so that resolution is clear and steps can be taken to prevent issues from happening again in the future.
Things to consider:
If you need more features than just IT documentation, this may not be the product for you since it is purely for IT documentation management. However, IT Boost has great integration with other RMM and PSA tools if you need more than what IT Boost can offer.
Price:
IT Boost offers a free 14-day trial with no credit card or sign up required until you decide that the software will work for your company. Basic plans start at $17 a user per month with a 5 user minimum.
N-able Passportal
Passportal is a very straightforward tool that provides document management and customer portal functionality. As an IT department or IT service provider, your documentation needs can be managed from one platform while giving you the tools to communicate with your end-users or customers about the work being done on their environment.
Features to be aware of:
- Customizable page templates to match your branding
- Manage multiple companies from one location through secure sign-on
- Create personalized pages for each of your clients including contact information and links to frequently used tasks such as creating support tickets or submitting change requests
- Unlimited number of pages per user account as well as unlimited resources per page
- Control your documentation access by limiting permissions to specific users
Things to consider:
If you are looking for a documentation tool with built-in communication or collaboration features, this may not be the best option for you. However, Passportal is a great option for companies that do not want to manage multiple tools in order to get their jobs done. This product offers everything you need on one platform, including customer portals and document management capabilities.
Price:
Passportal offers a free trial. If you want pricing, you must reach out to them for a quote.
IT Portal
IT Portal allows companies to manage documentation and project management through one convenient platform. It offers document management as well as full billing and time sheeting functionality for IT departments and IT service providers managing their own company’s needs as well as those of their customers.
IT Portal is a one stop shop for all of your company’s documentation needs. With an easy to use system that doesn’t require training or experience with technology, anyone can quickly build their own documentation platform.
Features to be aware of:
- Ability to manage documentation and project management from one platform
- Full billing and time sheeting functionality for service providers managing their own company’s needs as well as customer needs through one software platform
- Submit, discuss and approve requests from customers from within the same platform
- Ability to monitor the status of all requests
- Create personalized documentation for your customers using templates or uploading custom pages
- See which work orders are currently in progress and receive notifications when completed
Things to consider:
If you are looking for a documentation solution with billing and time sheeting functionality, this may be the best option. If your company is strictly made up of tech professionals with no need to include administrative staff such as managers or accounting services, other IT documentation tools may work better for your company.
Price:
The first user costs $45 per month but the monthly price per user drops to $25 per user per month after that. Their pricing is based on a sliding scale so, the more users you add, the less their monthly price is.
Atera IT Documentation
Atera, a platform built to automate IT management, is becoming more and more popular with companies looking for reliable technology solutions. Atera allows for complete documentation, project management, and billing functionality through one software platform.
Features to be aware of:
- Ability to manage all documentation, project management and customer billing from one platform
- Atera’s unique features such as real-time support tickets, invoice templates and more
- Ability to add pictures and screenshots to pages
- Merge documents such as instruction manuals into your documentation platform
- Create change requests that can be signed off by multiple users in order to streamline the process of implementing changes in your company’s servers or software
- Customizable forms that can also be added through Zapier integrations with no need for programming knowledge
If you are looking for a documentation solution with integrated project management and billing functionality, Atera is a great option. However, if you don’t need all of those features, other IT documentation tools may be more affordable.
Price:
Atera’s pricing is based off of the type of organization you are. If you need Atera for an IT department, pricing starts at $149 per technician per month. If you need Atera for your MSP or IT services business, Atera starts at $99 per user per month.
SuperOps IT Documentation
SuperOps is an all-in-one solution that not only provides your team with IT documentation but also with PSA and RMM tools. SuperOps IT documentation module offers easy to use drag and drop tools that allow you to create customized instructions, manuals, or “how-to’s” with simple clicks of the mouse.
Features to be aware of:
- Manage all documents from one convenient location
- Ability to upload manuals, instructions or “how-to’s” in the form of text documents
- Drag and drop functionality that allows you to rearrange elements on your playbook without any coding knowledge necessary
- Unlimited space for documentation pages
- Customizable templates that can be added in bulk for employees or customers
- Ability to add pictures and screenshots to pages
- Easy-to-use drag and drop tools allow you to create customized Docs in minutes
- Unlimited number of pages per account as well as unlimited resources per page – videos, screenshots, text and more
- Customization of modules (how-to’s, manuals, etc.) to be included in the implementation process through the implementation wizard
Thing to consider:
If you are looking for a documentation solution with built in communication features such as ticketing or chat, this may not be the best option. However, if you are looking for an all-in-one PSA solution then this may be a good choice.
Price:
SuperOps offers a free trial and pricing starts at $59 per user per month.
Check out SuperOps IT Documentation»
NinjaOne Documentation
NinjaOne Documentation is a module in the NinjaOne platform that helps IT departments and IT business to create and manage their documentation. With an easy to use interface, you can manage page creation and content organization without ever having to touch any code or having to deal with complicated user profiles for each of your employees.
Features to be aware of:
- Drag and drop functionality for creating pages as well as editing them
- Ability to communicate across modules by using the chat feature available in NinjaOne
- Sophisticated user roles that allows you to grant access to any conflicting features within the software
- Manage all documentation from a single platform as well as track changes and updates made to a document
Things to consider:
If you are looking for a documentation platform that can handle project management then this may not be the best option. However, if you need a good IT documentation tool that is good at what is was designed to do then this is a great option. I also personally use NinjaOne’s RMM tool and love it.
Price:
NinjaOne offers a free trial but you will need to contact them for a quote.
Check out NinjaOne Documentation »
DocuWiki
Simply put, DocuWiki is like Wikipedia but for your particular company. It is an open-source wiki that allows you to edit and add pages from one platform by using a basic markup language or HTML. This makes it easy for users without any programming knowledge to create their own documentation from within the same software platform.
Features to be aware of:
- Open source code which means there no vendor lock-in and there are no hidden costs
- Unlimited number of pages per account as well as unlimited resources per page – videos, screenshots, text
- All documents created in DocuWiki can also be exported into PDF format with a click of a button if your users need to print the information out
- The ability to add wiki links makes it easier for your users to navigate within your documentation platform and make it easy for them to learn new features when they simply click on the linked page rather than having to search through the entire software
Things to consider:
DocuWiki is not technically an IT documentation tool so it won’t be as robust as other tools designed for that purpose. This tool works best for basic documentation but is not great for account management. Additionally, depending on how much customization you require, you may need to utilize a developer create specific templates. However, if you are looking for a free and simple documentation system for you or your technicians, DocuWiki can be a good choice.
Price:
DocuWiki is Free!
Conclusion
As you can see, there are lots of IT documentation tools available. Each of the tools above can perform certain tasks better than the others so they are all worth looking into.
Keep in mind, depending on your needs, some may or may not be compatible with your current solution stack or business model. But the ones that are can save you lots of time and make you or your business way more efficient than you would be without them.
Let us know in the comments below what IT documentation solution you prefer.